Breakdown of Eu não brincava com aquele brinquedo.
eu
I
não
not / no
com
with
aquele
that over there (aquele, aquela, aqueles, aquelas)
brincar
to play (as a child, for fun)
o brinquedo
the toy
Questions & Answers about Eu não brincava com aquele brinquedo.
Why is brincava translated as "did not use to play" instead of "did not play"?
Brincava is the Pretérito Imperfeito (past continuous/habitual) form of the regular verb brincar. We use this tense for past habits. Translating it as "used to play" makes this habitual meaning clear in English. If it were a single, completed action in the past (like "I didn't play with it yesterday"), we would use the Pretérito Perfeito instead: Eu não brinquei.
Could I use the verb jogar here instead of brincar?
No. In Portuguese, jogar is used for playing sports or structured games with rules, like football or cards. Brincar is used for playing in a less structured, childlike way, like playing with toys (brinquedos) or joking around.
I learned that aquele contracts with prepositions. Why isn't it contracted with com here?
I noticed that brincava can also mean "he used to play" or "she used to play". Is that right?
Yes! In the Pretérito Imperfeito, the forms for eu (I) and ele/ela/você (he/she/you) are exactly the same. For regular -ar verbs, they always end in -ava. Because they look identical, speakers often include the pronoun (like the eu in this sentence) to prevent confusion.
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